War in Ukraine: in the Donbass, a fractured population facing the Russian invasion

Konstantinovka (Ukraine) is a characteristic town of Donbasswith its gray ensembles and its metallurgical factories which made it prosperous during the Soviet period. It had 70,000 inhabitants before the war. A divided population facing the Russian invasion. In one neighborhood, the water has been off for a month. A resident has made his well available to others. Like his neighbours, Sergei, a mechanic, does not take a dim view of the progress of Vladimir Putin’s troops. “The Ukrainian government has forgotten us for thirty years, since independence”he says.

“We lived well under the Soviet Union, our parents had work”assures a resident. On the other side of the city, the inhabitants on the contrary reject the Soviet system and its totalitarianism. A school was destroyed by a Russian missile two days ago. In the middle of the ruins, former miners come to clear away their incomprehension. “They are not normal, these people who say that the Russians will bring us peace”says a miner. Both sides, impossible at reconcile, nevertheless find themselves side by side on Sundays, in the pews of a small Orthodox church.